Beadle's Dime New York Library, No. 615

The Ocean Outlaw's Nemesis A serialized romance by Col. Prentiss Ingraham, set in 1890s Mexico. The story opens at Castle San Juan d'Uloa near Vera Cruz as a Mexican naval brig returns damaged from combat. Its commander, Captain Almo Urbana, a dashing but ruthless officer, enters a gambling casino where he meets with banker Luis Escalon and gambler Henrico Valverde. The conversation reveals their scheme: Escalon and Valverde financially back Urbana's supposedly pirate-hunting vessel, which they actually own. Urbana confesses he attacked an American sailor (who scarred him) while attempting to win the wealthy Senorita Rachel at the Ravera Hacienda by discrediting her American suitor as a pirate. Defeated in the naval engagement, Urbana proposes they kidnap the senorita and force her marriage to control her fortune. Escalon demands he recount how he encountered the American ship, setting up continuing complications between the parties.